Court Overturns Stem Cell Ban

A federal appeals court overturned the ban on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research today in a 2-1 ruling. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that such funding did not violate a 1996 law forbidding the use of federal money for research in which an embryo is destroyed, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s a significant victory for President Obama, who made lifting George W. Bush’s restrictions on stem cell research funding one of his first acts as president. (More embryonic stem cells stories.)